Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia, Chile 13 May 2025

Wildlife roams freely in one of Chile"s most stunning protected areas, where towering peaks and ancient glaciers shape the land. Established on this day in 1959, Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia turns 66 years old today and covers over 448,000 acres. Originally called Grey Lake National Tourism Park, it was renamed in 1970 and later designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978. Its most recognisable feature—the three massive granite peaks known as the Torres—stands over 2,500 metres tall. These formations took shape through magma intrusion and uplift, followed by millions of years of glacial erosion, leaving behind the jagged spires seen today.

© Marco Bottigelli/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Tis the season for travel
Solo on the savanna
13 May 2024Fish River Canyon, Namibia

More Desktop Wallpapers:

We can all just get along
8 Jan 2025Great Wall of China
18 Apr 2024International Day for Monuments and Sites
Nature at its colourful best
24 Jan 2024Diamond Beach, Iceland
24 Oct 2025Night view of the RMS Queen Mary, Long Beach, California, United States
Red rock country
28 Dec 2025Black-and-white ruffed lemur in Madagascar
3 Dec 2023Advent Sunday
22 Nov 2023Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA
27 Oct 2025Thick-billed raven, Simien Mountains, Ethiopia
The ‘eighth wonder’?
Home of racing legends
Pastel perfection
29 Oct 2023Bonaventure Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia, USA
10 Sep 2024Vasco da Gama Bridge, Lisbon, Portugal
An explosive history
7 May 2024A duckling swimming in a water meadow, Suffolk, England
A walk in the clouds
27 Jun 2025Splendid leaf frog
4 Nov 2025Tower Bridge, London
The other continent Down Under
5 Feb 2025Scottish Blackface sheep, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
A day of swing and celebration
23 Nov 2024Fibonacci Day
Sep 2, 2023National Hummingbird Day
Serene waters on a trembling earth
20 Feb 2026Horsetail Fall, Yosemite National Park, California, United States
24 Jul 2025Happy Cousins Day!
International Archaeology Day